Karma System
Within the confines of the intelligent mind, it is easy to determine right from wrong when presented with grand struggles of corrupt governments and rebellious citizens, or holy knights standing against a dragon incinerating the countryside. And as heroes fight against the forces of evil they will rise to the task and commit great deeds of heroism. However as they continue their quests, they will face situations in which things aren't nearly as black and white and the motives of either side may not be clear. Maybe the rebellious citizens are fighting their government for funneling money into relief funds for a foreign country that has been crushed by demon invasion, or the dragon was fighting to protect it's territory from encroaching urbanization which killed many of it's kind before. Or what if the scale isn't so grand? What if you're faced with stealing an amulet from a small child to save a city, but doing so will prevent the child from receiving it's restorative magics and cause him to succumb to the plague? Or what if players defeat a Nether Noble whom was stealing money from the poor demons in his employ, only to learn that he was giving the money to a dangerous overlord who was threatening to destroy the village if he didn't receive his gold? Events such as this require judgment, and such judgment is difficult to dole out on occasion in a tangible way. As such, this system is created to show players when they may have committed an evil act, and to also reward them when they commit good deeds. But just as in the real world, recovering from misdeeds can often be far more difficult than it was committing the evil deed in the first place. All creatures gain a Karma Score. This Karma score begins at 0. Whenever a creature completes an evil action they gain 1 point of karma. For every 2 good actions they complete, their karma is lessened by 1. The maximum amount of Karma a creature can obtain is 10 and the minimum is -10. A non evil creature who has a karma score of 10, that participates in 2 more evil actions, has their alignment slide 1 step closer to evil. An evil creature with a karma of -10 who completes 4 good actions, has their alignment slide 1 step closer to good. It's up to the DM to determine what actions are notable enough to be treated as a good or evil action, however the player will be notified whenever they receive or lose a point of karma. Creatures gain a bonus to all damage rolls equal to 1/2 of their karma, however all creatures will always perceive them as 1 step less friendly for every 3 points of karma they possess, and they take a penalty to all of their relationship scores by an amount equal to their karma. If the character deals divine damage, they subtract the divine damage they deal by an amount equal to their karma, and deal an additional amount of unholy damage equal to 1/2 of their karma. If the creature is struck by a critical hit, they take an amount of additional damage equal to their karma. If they are in a holy area, such as holy grounds, or consecrated lands, they take damage equal to 1/2 of their karma every round. Creatures also subtract their karma from any saves they make against a corruption. Creatures gain a bonus to charisma based skills equal to 1/2 of their Karma penalty rounded down. For example, if a creature has a karma of -6, they gain a +3 bonus to charisma based skills. Creatures will perceive those with negative Karma as 1 step more friendly for every -4 points of karma they possess, and they gain a bonus to all of their relationship scores by an amount equal to 1/2 of their karma penalty. If the character deals divine damage, they add 1/2 of their karma penalty number to the damage they deal as a positive. If they deal unholy damage, they subtract an amount from the unholy damage dealt equal to their karma score. Creatures begin losing hero or villain points equal to 1/2 of their karma rounded down. They lose total villain point slots at negative karma and total hero point slots at positive Karma. DM's may allow creatures to begin gaining hero or villain points in exchange for the other. Below is a handy table to remind you what does what.